IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

FIrst Read's Morning Clips: GOP getting nervous in West Virginia?

A roundup of the most important political news stories of the day
Image: Former Massey Energy Chief Executive Don Blankenship and his attorney Bill Taylor are met by media outside the Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse in Charleston West Virginia
Former Massey Energy Chief Executive Don Blankenship, front left, and his attorney Bill Taylor are met by members of the media outside the courthouse in Charleston, West Virginia, on Dec. 3. Blankenship was found guilty in federal court on Thursday of conspiring to violate safety standards at the Upper Big Branch mine, the site of a 2010 blast that killed 29 people. Chris Tilley / Reuters

MIDTERM MADNESS: GOP getting nervous about Don Blankenship in West Virginia?

Nancy Pelosi is headed to Iowa in May.

IA-3: Theresa Greenfield, a top Democratic candidate in Iowa’s third district race has failed to collect enough voter signatures to appear on the primary ballot. (She discovered last week that her campaign manager had forged some of them but failed to gather enough in a mad scramble to build a new list of signatures).

IL-GOV: Our Chicago affiliate previews today’s big gubernatorial race.

And early voting in Chicago and its suburbs is nearly triple what it was in 2014, writes the Chicago Sun-Times.

IL-3: And on the Democratic side, all eyes are on Dan Lipinski’s attempts to save his seat.

IL-6: Don’t forget about the Democratic primary in Peter Roskam’s district. POLITICO has a preview here.

MN-GOV: Tim Pawlenty is moving ever closer to a gubernatorial run.

NY-GOV: Cynthia Nixon is officially in the race for governor, launching a primary against Andrew Cuomo.

Can Nixon actually neat Cuomo? The New York Times looks at the dynamics of the race.

PA-6: Ryan Costello will file to run for reelection, he says.

WI-SEN: Scott Walker’s wife is endorsing Leah Vukmir.

Vukmir is weighing in on the Andrew McCabe firing — and Rep. Mark Pocan’s attempts to save his pension.

WV-SEN: The national GOP is getting increasingly worried about Don Blankenship, writes POLITICO.

TRUMP AGENDA: Shake it up, baby

Trump is shaking up his legal team, adding an attorney who says that Trump is the target of an FBI conspiracy. From the Washington Post: “Trump is not consulting with top advisers, including Chief of Staff John F. Kelly and chief White House lawyer Donald McGahn, on his Russia legal choices or his comments about the probe, according to one person with knowledge of his actions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive conversations. He is instead watching television and calling friends, this person said.”

Here’s more from the New York Times: “The shift in tone appears to be a product of the president’s concern that the investigation into possible ties between his associates and Russia’s election interference is bearing down on him more directly. And the legal team’s collapse comes as his lawyers are confronting one of their most critical tasks: advising the president on whether to agree to sit for an interview with the special counsel’s office.”

And Trump’s lawyers have turned over documents to the Mueller probe in the hopes of limiting the scope of a potential interview.

Leigh Ann Caldwell writes that Republicans have backed off calls to legislate a way to protect Robert Mueller.

And Facebook’s chief information security officer is leaving amid outcry.

NBC’s Ben Popken and Anna Schecter report on how hidden camera footage from ITN revealed Cambridge Analytica officials discussing deceptive tactics.

Americans for Prosperity has launched "American Pay Raise," a new grassroots initiative thanking members of Congress who voted for the GOP’s new tax law and criticizing those who voted against it. As part of the initiative is the newly-launched site, AmericanPayRaise.com.

And finally, keep an eye on this, via Pete Williams: “The issue of abortion returns to the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday in a battle over a California law requiring notices for women about the availability of services to terminate a pregnancy. A religious group representing church-run crisis pregnancy centers says the requirement violates the First Amendment's guarantee of free expression by forcing them to convey a message they strongly oppose.”